Cover | Jane Oriel

Pumpkin (oil on canvas, private commission). For Jane Oriel, success means capturing the unspoken inner emotions that are influenced and inspired by the world around us. She uses atmospheric light, color, line, textures, and patterns, as well as fluid brush strokes to express this inner-outer relationship—colliding, complementing and/or permeating one another. No living creature is an island, she believes. “It has been a true gift for me to bring art into people’s lives, inspired by their most precious companions,” says Oriel, who studied at Parsons School of Design, School of Visual Arts, and Art Students League in New York City. Her paintings are in many private collections and have been exhibited nationally. To view her work by appointment or for info about a custom portrait, visit the Firehouse Collective at 1000 Gilman St. in Berkeley or janeoriel.com. Click here for an interview with Oriel in The Monthly’s regular By Day feature.

NEXT MONTH: The Lawrence Berkeley Lab site that could recharge the city of Richmond, gearing up for the new baby, and Wife 22, a comedy of manners by Oakland’s Melanie Gideon (check out her in the July issue of O).